A Maraudering Graduation
by musicalexpert
Summary: The last few days for the Marauders before graduation. James and Sirius are trying to enjoy life. Peter is acting wierd. Meanwhile, Remus is failing at a speech he needs to write for graduation.
1. Fail Speech

Me; Hello, this is my first Marauder fanfiction!

James: It is about time!

Sirius: Really. What took you so long?

Me: Um, because…..

James and Sirius: Because why?

Remus: Leave her alone guys and let's get down to business.

James: Fine!

Remus: First off, Lissy does not own the rights to these characters. They belong to JK Rowling.

James: My hero!

Sirius: Yah, but she needs a story about us.

Me: I would also like to say that some of these events are based off of real events that happened to me and my friends. Well mostly Katie…

Remus: Almost everything that happens to me is based off of her.

Me: Yup! Well enjoy!

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~A Marauding Graduation~

"But Professor McGonagall said it should be inspirational, you guys."

Four boys laid around their dormitory trying to write what should be a simple speech for their graduation. The one who was supposed to be giving it was named Remus Lupin. He was the smartest of the four. Any homework sent his way was done with excellence. He could not, though, write a speech. An essay about the Troll War would have been done without ease. But a creative writing assignment... that was impossible.

"I'm telling you. No one is going to want to listen to the same old boring thing about how great it was here and how it helped us prepare for the future. It should be funny," suggested one of Remus' best friends who was trying to help him. "Mention how awful Schnappi's hair smells."

This young man's name was Sirius Black. He was quite possibly the most handsome boy in the school and he knew it. He could have great grades like his friend, but he did not feel the need to assert himself in school work. It was a waste if you ask him. He was more into being a playboy than a book worm. Although his grades were not excellent, he was in fact very clever.

"Yeah! We can title it "The Loser" and go through all the ways we have tortured him in these past years," laughed James.

"If we had it your way James," said Sirius. "It would be all about how you managed to finally get Lily to be your girl friend."

James Potter is the third of these boys. He is in many ways the leader of the group and was a very skilled quidditch player. For the past six and a half years, he has been after a girl named Lily. Although he started expressing his feeling when they were in their third year, she had rejected him because of his natural arrogance. In his final year, his head deflated a bit and he was not as egotistical. She finally consented to his wishes and they have been a happy couple ever since.

"Ahh, Lily," James sighed rolling onto his back staring dreamily at the ceiling.

"Stop it, mate," commanded Sirius throwing a pillow at James. "You're acting like a girl."

"I'm acting like I'm in love."

Sirius started gagging at this.

Sirius and James had been best of friends since the first ride on the train to Hogwarts. After that day, they were inseparable. You could not see one without the other. They were almost like twins, brothers separated at birth. They always have each other's backs and have taken the roll of class clown.

"Could you two stop and help me?" asked Remus. "What do you think Peter?"

"I think we should not graduate," he meekly said.

The final boy was a weak boy named Peter Pettigrew. He was certainly not like the other boys. As the others were cunning, Peter lacked in the smarts department. He also lacked in the love department and sports department. The others protected him as he was in constantly in the way of everything and everyone. It was almost their duty to look out for him. The only ones who could tease him were James and Sirius (as Remus does not tease).

"You mean fail school?" asked Sirius. "As in, stay here."

Peter nodded.

"Why?" said a shocked Sirius.

"Because everything is going to change once we graduate."

The room grew silent. Everything was going to change. Their headmaster, a very peculiar man called Dumbledore, asked them to join a secret group called the Order of the Phoenix. The purpose of this group was to take down an evil wizard who called himself "Lord Voldemort." He was gathering followers fast claiming to want to purify the world and get rid of muggles. James and Sirius were actively against the 'pure bloods' even though they that was exactly what they were. Sirius always hated his family and their ways. The one person James loved the most in this world was muggle-born. Remus has been known to put out a few words against the purification. Peter was too nervous of a boy to say his feeling on the subject.

"Come on, Peter," James finally said. "You still haven't grown a back bone yet."

"Yeah," added Sirius. "It is going to be the next adventure of our lives. The grandest adventure of our lives."

"D-do you think we'll still be f-friends during it though?" stammered Peter.

At this, James and Sirius could not help and laugh. What a foolish question to ask.

"No, Wormtail," said James. "No matter what happens none of us could possibly ever stay friends after the war is over and we won." James was near tears with laughter, holding his stomach because it hurt so much. None of them saw Peter cringe at these words.

"Right, and how in the world could we stay friends when we are on the same side," laughed Sirius. "Why would we remain friends? What point would that serve?"

The boys roared with laughter, practically rolling on the ground. They both thought it was ridiculous (even Remus thought so). Once the boys calmed down, they looked at Peter with a more serious look.

"Really Peter?" asked Sirius moving to sit next to him with James on Peter's other side. "Why would you even ask that?"

"W-well, I don't know. It's just…"

"Peter," said James. "Nothing could ever possibly break us apart."

It was Remus' turn now. He went digging through his trunk until he found the object he was looking for. He brought it over to them.

"You see this?" asked Remus. He had the Marauder's Map in his hand. "This has all of our names on it; Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. We are the Marauders. Now and forever. Nothing can break the bonds of our friendship."

"Beautifully said," commented James the same time Sirius said "Exactly."

"Marauders," said Sirius putting out his hand. James and Remus followed him.

"Marauders," they said together.

"M-marauders," finally said Peter not as enthusiastic as the others.

"Now," sighed Remus. "About this speech."

* * *

Remus never did get his speech done. He had about one line of it in fact. It was both amusing and alarming for James and Sirius to see him running around to avoid Professor McGonagall. It was so unlike him to be this scared of an assignment. Professor McGonagall was having problems finding him as well since he was using his skills as a Marauder.

"Potter, Black," she yelled at James and Sirius. "Where is Mr. Lupin? I cannot seem to find him anywhere. I need to look at his speech. "

James gave Sirius a nod as a signal.

"We have it professor," Sirius told her.

"He gave it to us because he has some things he needs to look up before exams. He didn't want you to worry," said James.

"Well," she said relieved. "Give it here."

"Here you go, Professor."

James gave her the speech he and Sirius had written for him being the good friends they were. She gave a sigh before she opened it. Sirius and James held in laughter as she read the lines.

"You started off nice, but when you go into the part about… 'Schnappi' is when you lose it."

"We were just trying to help, Professor," said Sirius with a sad voice.

"Schnappi? Do I need to even ask who that is?"

"I'm sure you're smart enough to know that that is our dear friend Snape," James told her.

"You boys," she sighed. "I don't know how you are going to make it into society, but I have a strange feeling despite all of this you will still do well for yourselves."

"Oh! Stop it, Professor," fake giggled Sirius. "You're making me blush."

Professor McGonagall paused for a minute, then with an emotion the boys were not used to told them "Despite the hell you two have put me through these past few years, I am going to miss you."

The boys were utterly shocked. This was the most touching thing they have ever heard her say, even with all of the thanks and congratulations for quidditch. They did not quite know what to say. She glanced once more at the paper and commented "Mr. Potter, your handwriting has really improved over the years, but I would suggest not asking Mr. Black's help in the spelling department again. Be sure to tell Remus he is not off the hook as well." The boys started laughing as she walked away.

"You know," Sirius commented. "We have to be getting out of here soon because everybody is acting strange. We've seen some weird stuff today."

"Point number one;" said James "Remus _hiding _from a teacher. Normally that is us. Point number two; McGonagall said she is going to miss us. That was nice to hear though."

"Point number three;" added Sirius. "Is you saying Schnappi is our dearest friend." Sirius gave James a look that said "Our dearest friend. You have to be kidding me."

"That was for McGonagall," James told him.

"Uh-huh. Sure."

"Whatever, Sirius. I wonder where Wormtail is. I haven't really seen him all day."

James and Sirius looked around the Great Hall for him. They finally spotted him walking from the way that would talk to you the dungeons and Slytherin Dormitory. James watched Peter come up to them and walk towards the table. Something had caught Sirius's eye that made him keep looking at door. Shortly after Peter had come walking out, he's cousin, Bellatrix, did as well.

"Point number four," whispered Sirius.

"Huh?" asked James. "Did you say something?"

Peter hanging out with Bellatrix? That was impossible. There was no way that his evil cousin could ever have any possible reason to talk to Peter and same goes for Peter. There is an absolute no reason for Peter to talk to her. Sirius quickly got rid of his suspicion because, well, it was impossible.

"Never mind," said Sirius. "It's nothing."

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Please Review and let me know what you think!


	2. The Perfect Hiding Place and Prank

Me: I'm back with the second chapter!

James: Finally.

Sirius; *reads chapter* Wow, Remus. *laughes*

Remus; What? *reads as well* Oh my Merlin. Lissy?

Me; Sorry about that. xD Anyways! On with the story!

[insert disclaimer]

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"Where do you think we should put it?" asked Sirius. He was talking about the Marauder's Map. The boys had decided that they would put the map in a place where only students with the true Marauder Spirit could find it as opposed to giving it to a current one because none of them were good enough in their opinion. "I mean, it can't be obvious like behind a statue or something."

"It should be at a place where you should not expect it," added James. "It needs to be hidden well."

"Huh," said Remus. Remus only said this when he had an interesting thought.

"What is it?" asked Sirius.

"I'm going to disagree with you, Prongs. It should be in an obvious spot. A place where you would expect to find something like this as in… the caretaker's office."

"Why is that?" asked James.

"Because," said Remus. "It will be heavily guarded."

This caused James to smile. He looked over at Sirius who shared his smile. This is one of the main reasons James and Sirius admired him so much; he has such a clever mind. A mind that would not be matched for years to come.

"I like it," commented James. "It's perfect."

"I don't get it," said Peter confused. "Why would we hand it over?"

"Think about it," explained Remus. "If we just drop it at any old place, just a plain lucky student might be able to find it, but if we put it in the caretaker's office-"

"What is his name again?" asked Sirius.

"Who?" questioned James.

"The caretaker's name. You know the new one," said Sirius.

"Sirius, he's given you about fifty detentions," remarked James. "Remember, his name is Filch."

"Filch! That's it!" exclaimed Sirius. "I knew it sounded like filth!"

Remus just stared at him while James slapped his palm to his face. It was really time for Sirius to get out of there.

"Anyways," continued Remus. "If we put it in the caretaker, Filch's office only people he wants to punish will be in it."

"And the ones he wants to punish are those who disturbed the peace of Hogwarts," commented James. "And those who disturbed the peace show true Marauder Spirit."

"The only way future generations will be able to find it is if they break into Filch's desk and take it. It's perfect," said Sirius. "The plan should be simple."

And it was. This was Filch's first year at Hogwarts and was out to get the Marauders. He would get suspicious of them just walking down the hallway, but when he found the four Marauders in a huddle around a certain piece of parchment; he could not resist the chance to see what they were up to.

"Hey!" he yelled at him. Even though he was only in his thirties, he had an old grubby look about him. His disgusting hair could compete with Snivellus's in Sirius' book. He waddled over to them and demanded to know what they were holding.

"What?" asked Sirius. "This?" He held up what looked like a normal piece of parchment, but it was a blank Marauder's Map. It _looked_ perfectly normal.

"Yes! That," exclaimed Filch. He took the map out of Sirius's hand and examined it. He looked it over and over but found nothing.

"Is there something wrong, sir?" asked Remus. "It is just some parchment. I thought that was allowed in a school."

"You may think your being smart," said Filch as eyes narrowed when he looked the boys. "But I know better! This has some dark magic in it and I'm going to find out what it is. You four are nothing but trouble and you are not getting this back. This is now confiscated!"

Filch stormed off looking at the paper. The boys laughed at how foolish Filch looked.

"You know what?" asked Sirius. "I have a feeling that Filch won't miss us like McGonagall will."

* * *

There were only three days left until graduation now. The exams were finished and now all that they had left was to relax and wait for the day to come. Remus still needed to finish his speech even though he was giving it soon. He decided go to the library and try to get it done. Sirius and James were working harder now than they had all semester. They, of course, were working on their final prank at Hogwarts. As being Marauders, they needed to go out with a BANG! and they it was hard work thinking of stuff to do. They knew one thing they had to do. It turns out that Snape was the Slytherin representative giving a speech. They already had ruining his speech all blocked out in their schedule and only had time for one more prank.

"What if we… dye all of the Slytherin robes red? That might work," suggested Sirius.

"No, there are too many of them. We would end up getting caught before we actually get a few done," James told him.

They were having a hard time deciding a prank. It needed to be something that was grand but not too grand. The blame would automatically be on them anyways so they might as well not do something to horrible.

"Ok, we only have about fifteen minutes to do this last prank –"

"James Potter, what did you just saying?" asked the voice that controlled James.

"Oh boy," sighed Sirius.

James looked up from his chair by the fire in the common room and there she was; his beloved. She walked over to where he was sitting and sat on the arm of the chair. She flipped her red hair just because she knew James would like it.

"Now what was that James?" asked Lily.

"Hi, honey," he said. "Are you happy that exams are over?"

"James," she demanded. "What are you planning?"

"Planning?" he questioned. "What are you talking about, love?" He gave her a smile he hoped would distract her. He failed miserably.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Sirius, will you tell me?"

"As you are so …_charming_, I'm sorry to say that your power has no effect on me," Sirius told her. "You won't be getting any information out of me."

"So you are planning something?" asked Lily.

"I never said that," exclaimed Sirius. "I just told you that you cannot charm or demand me to say anything like that. Now if you don't mind, James and I need to go pack our trunks."

Sirius grabbed James's arm just in time. By the look on James's face, he was just about to give in. Lily has a way of controlling James that none of the others could explain. Yes, she was attractive. Yes, she was smart. Yes, she was a cunning witch. But come on! James needed to get a grip. Sirius thought that James was bad before they had gone out and once they were a couple (because he knew in the end they would be) he would calm down, but it seems to have gotten worse. It must be the fact that now when he kisses her, she kisses back. It messed up his mind and he can't come back.

Sirius practically dragged James into the boy's dorm. Peter was already in there starting to pack his trunk. Sirius put his hands on James shoulders and while looking him straight in the eyes said "James, as your best mate I'm saying this to you with the brotherly bond we have had over these few years, you need to get over it and pull yourself together."

"Yah, I know. She has a power over me," James commented defeated. "She is going to be such a spoiled wife."

Sirius started laughing in which James joined in on. Sirius was laughing at James because it seems he already had his future planned out (which was the exact opposite of himself). James always knew what he was going to do in his future; not work and marry the woman he loved. James was laughing because it was true- that is what was going to happen in the future. He just knew it. The laughing slowly died down.

"Ah, James… would I ever do without you?" Sirius asked.

"Well let's see. Your life would be boring. It would be filled with obstinate purebloods. And, ah oh yeah, there would be one less totally sexy person in your life."

Sirius shook his head and looked around the room. His part of the room was a mess as was James. Peter's was looking better, but Remus' always had his part of the room clean…. Weirdo. So, James and Sirius did decide to pack while they work.

"Ok, what about… my mind is at a blank," suggested Sirius.

"The problem is we have to beat our prank on the graduates last year," said James. He smiled at the memory.

Last year when the graduates lined up for their class picture, the Marauders dumped buckets of water over their heads. To this day, the picture remains as all of them trying to dodge the water.

Remus came barging into the dorm and yelled "I did it! I finished my speech! HAHAHAHA!!!!"

He almost seemed evil. Remus' eyes glowed with excitement as he raised the parchment which had his speech on it in the air. He started waving it and danced around room saying "I did it! I did it! Lalala!"

James, Sirius and Peter watched on with great alarm. It looks like Remus needed to get out of the school as well. Remus seemed to be getting crazier and crazier since the beginning of the speech. All three of them noted not to make Remus the best man at their wedding. They did not want him going crazy again trying to write a toast.

"Mate," Sirius said as calmly as he could. "Moony, are you ok?"

"I'm absolutely perfect!" exclaimed Remus as he started jumping on the bed. The bed was not taking it quite well.

"I- I don't want to rain on your parade, but I don't think that the bed is made of a werewolf to jump on it," James pointed out. Remus seemed to agree and kicked his legs out as to land on his bottom. Remus laid there on the bed, panting.

"I did it!!!" Remus sang. As in actual singing. Remus Lupin has never sung in all the time that they had known him. Remus does not sing, but there his was laying there singing. It was almost on the verge of ridiculous.

The other three slowly walked towards the bed. James and Sirius were very cautious while Peter was downright scared.

"So," said Sirius. "Can we….read it?"

"No!" exclaimed Remus so loudly that they all jumped. "You can't read it! The first time you will hear it will be the first time everyone else hears it! But I will tell you it works. It's funny! It can be inspirational and it is not boring! Wah-whoo! All this excitement has gotten me hungry! Let's go down to the Great Hall and get something to eat."

Remus was making way to get off of the bed, but James and Sirius forced him back. For normal Remus' sake, they wanted him to stay in the dorm to calm down for a bit. Remus' reputation would certainly change if the rest of the school saw him like this. They left Peter in charge of Remus, not letting him leave the dorm. James and Sirius went to get some grub for them, slightly frazzled. They were also given orders by Remus to tell Professor McGonagall that he had finished. They made a couple of sandwiches for the four of them and walked up to Professor McGonagall.

"Excuse me, Professor," said James.

"What is it, Potter?" demanded Professor McGonagall.

"Remus finished his speech."

"Excellent. Where is he?" she asked.

"He's …um… not really fit to be seen at the moment."

"What ever is the matter? Why not?"

"To tell you the truth, Professor, in being so relieved that he did finish his speech, he's kind of… crazy. Right, Sirius?"

Sirius was not paying attention at the moment. Something at the Slytherin Table seemed to have caught his attention. James elbowed him in the stomach to get him back to reality. Professor McGonagall had a suspicious look on her face.

"Wha?" he asked lamely.

"Remus..." said James.

"Oh, yeah! He's crazy," he finally supported. "I was terrified."

"Was it really that bad?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"You have no idea, Professor," they said in unison.

"Well, send him to me as soon as he is better."

"Yes, Professor."

On the way back James asked Sirius what was up with him when they were talking to Professor McGonny (as they like to call her…behind her back). Sirius gave him a grin as he started to explain.

"I had an epiphany in the Great Hall for the prank."

"What is it?" James asked excited.

"Well, we certainly would have time for a little spell we managed to learn first year. Why don't we end the same way we started."

"End the same way we stared? What does that…? Oh!"

Sirius nodded his head in replay.

"Perfect," was all James had to say on the subject.

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Wanna know what their first prank was? All you have to do is wait for the next installment.

Review, please!


	3. The Last Day

Me: Hey guys. I know it took a while to get this one out, but I had writer block for most of it.

James: That and you could not seem to pull yourself away from Draco fanfiction.

Me: *sticks out my tongue* You're just jealous. Anyways, back to me talking about this fanfic. I think I have about 2 more chapters to write before it is finished and I hope you all like it!

Sirius: That girl *points at Lissy* does not own me or anything in the Harry Potter world…thank goodness. She does own a copy of all the books and a few shirts. That's it.

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"Our last day here," said James walking around looking at the castle. He looked at things with different eyes. The eyes of one leaving Hogwarts. He'll miss the musty old hallways and the Great Hall. He'll even miss some classes and people there, but most of all he'll miss the constant knowing that his friends are by his side. He looked over at Sirius. Eh. No point in missing him. Since the first day on the train when they were first years, they were inseparable. James doubted that even death would be able to take these two apart. Remus and Peter on the other hand would be different. Yes, they were all joining the Order of the Phoenix, but Peter would be too afraid to do 'on the field jobs' like the other were and Remus has a spy job to do with other werewolves. When in that busy schedule did that leave time for the Marauders to hang out? He would have to accept it though; this is how life goes.

"It's almost sad," added Sirius, "almost." Sirius would miss pulling prank and making fun of Snape. Poor kid.

They walked through the castle on their way to get breakfast. It was a big day for them. They were leaving the confines of their safe, protected school and apperating into the world of adulthood and responsibility. They walked into the Great Hall and admired the changes made to it yesterday.

It is traditional for the seventh years of each house to get its own wall to be decorated. They can pour their knowledge and memories onto the wall. The Ravenclaw wall was the brightest. It flashed blue and white with a raven that flew across it every now and then. It showed memories of their friends and triumphs. The Hufflepuff wall was the messiest to say the least, but it was very artistic. It was sectioned off so that each student had their own portion to draw whatever they pleased. The Slytherin wall certainly showed Slytherin Pride. A great green snake slithered across it. If you were younger, it could be quite frightening. The Gryffindor wall, Sirius likes to think, was the best. It was not extreme like Ravenclaw or meant to be artistic like Hufflepuff. It was a collage of memories. They had a lot of fun painting the background. The five girls had gold while the Marauders red and they made paint fly out of their wands and onto the wall. They were pretty much at war. The girls tried to make the gold more prominent and the marauders were doing the same with the red. As everyone else was having a serious approach, the Gryffindors were having fun. In fact, they were yelled at to be quite a lot.

The memories on the wall had very sentimental meaning. The rest of the school did not understand the wolf, dog, stag and rat spread across the corners of the wall, but the Marauders did. James put picture of the Quidditch cup that he (and in the later years Sirius) had won in his years at Hogwarts. With him on the team, they did not lose one cup and he was very proud of it. Remus put on a picture of the Whopping Willow with a full moon behind it. When asked about it, he said he put it on there because it was planted their first year there. Sirius added the words "Mischief Always Managed by The Marauders." Peter did not add anything out of fear of ruining it.

One of James's favorite parts was a memory put on by Lily. It read like this;

"'Will you go out with me?' 'No.'

'Now will you go out with me?' 'Still no.'

'I would be honored if you came to Hosgmead with me.' 'I would be honored if you left me alone.'

'You don't know what you're missing!' 'Yes, I do.'

'Please?' 'No!"

'Just one date?' 'I'm going with a pass.'

'Lily, would you be brave enough to date me?' 'A challenge… I accept.'

And then they lived happily ever after."

Each line represented a year that James asked her out and only the final one did she accept. Everyone joined him in laughing at it.

"To think," James said separating from the other and walking up to Lily who was looking at the wall. "All these years I just needed to challenge you." He shook his head at her.

"It wasn't the challenge," she told him looking right in his eyes. "It was you. You changed over the summer. You matured. I will add that I did always admire your intensity on protecting those around you, but you just… changed."

She was at a loss for words. That was a first.

James smiled and kissed her. The kiss was broken by a loud noise that came from across the room. They looked over to see that Snape had fallen over a bench. He stood up, snared at James and walked away. James started laughing (Sirius enjoyed the moment as well).

"Will you stop," Lily commanded. "It's not funny." But James noticed a smile creeping on her face and of course he encouraged it. "Stop looking at me like that!"

James made the face even more. It was a "I see your little smile, but I can make it a big smile' face. If that made sense. Soon she was laughing not hard, but not a little either. She hit him in the arm saying "Look at what you made me do!"

"Me!" he said shocked. "I did nothing."

"You jerk."

"But you know, that" he pointed in the direction that Snape had fallen "was probably my fault."

"Why would you say that? You were over here."

"Yes, but he was probably jealous that I was kissing the prettiest girl in all the land."

"That is none of his concern."

"Not anymore." He went in for one more kiss.

It was not any of his concern anymore because Lily rejected Schnappi as a friend in front of the whole school after he called her a mudblood. She was done. She put up with him being friends with the wrong sort but he crossed the line when he did that. It was all over for them and James could not be any happier.

"Let's go get some breakfast."

* * *

There was an excitement in the Gryffindor Common Room as all of the younger students said their 'good byes' to the Marauders. There was a large line of girls waiting to give Sirius one last hug before they couldn't have anymore. The gamut spanned from first years to sixth years. Even a fourth year Ravenclaw girl managed to make it into the Gryffindor Common Room, only to be yelled at. Before she left though, Sirius hugged her and told her that he appreciated the trouble she went though. She fainted. Remus shook his head at him as two sixth year boys carried her to the Hospital Wing. Sirius shrugged.

"James," said Remus. "We should be getting ready soon considering we have to get there two hours before the ceremony."

Remus had to go early to prepare for his speech and James (along with Lily) had to go early because they were Head Boy and Head Girl. Everyone else had to be there an hour before hand so Sirius and Peter stayed behind for some more fare wells.

Remus went to his trunk and pulled out his red and gold robes. He sighed as he put them on. He was surprised to see how much they looked like muggle graduations robes. The only difference was that they did not have to wear the stupid looking cardboard caps. They had on traditional wizarding caps. Remus looked at himself in the mirror. He remembered his first day at Hogwarts. He was so worried that no one would accept him for who he was; a werewolf. But look at him now! With three friends who loved him so much they were willing to become animagi for him, he felt like he was the luckiest werewolf in the world. The only question was; what of the future? He doubted that once they conquered Lord Voldemort he would be able to find a legitimate, long-lasting job. Remus knew he would never marry someone, even if he did fall in love. He would never let a woman have to deal with that. It would be too painful for her and him. So, he ruled out romantic relationships. End of story.

He and James walked down to the Common Room, meet up with Lily and headed out (not, of course, until after James complimented Lily on her superb appearance). Once in the Great Hall, they meet up with all of the other speech givers and Professor McGonagall.

"We are going to do a quick run through with the six of you as you will be entering first," she told them. "We were going to do it the same day that the whole class practiced, but I thought they would not want to hear the same speech twice."

The practice with the whole grade was quite comical even though it was one of the most boring things Sirius and James sat through. It was comical because James and Sirius made fun of almost everything that happened. It was boring because it took such a loooong time. At least they were able to sit next to each other.

It was unfortunate for James that he and Lily was sent on an errand because he was not able to hear Remus' speech. It was fortunate that he arrived back in time to hear Snape's. He was able to hear the parts he needed to change then.

As the time of the graduation became closer, parents started arriving. It was the job of the Head Girl and Head Boy to show them were to go, so James and Lily spent a good amount of time ushering parents from the entrance to their sets in the Great Hall. It was a relief when six year prefects came to let them go get ready. Lily thought it was strange that they were made to do that, but James explained to her that it is a wizarding tradition and it won't stop soon.

Once with the rest of the seventh years, James immediately found Sirius who was the one going to switch Snape's speech with James new and 'improved' one. Sirius managed to do it without Snape noticing. They high-fived each other as Professor McGonagall came in.

"Everybody, listen up," she demanded and instantly the room was silenced. This was one of the many ways she was impressive. "We are going to be starting soon so everyone line up!"

And they did so. Head Boy and Head Girl came in first. So James and Lily was at the front of the group followed by the speech givers (who were prefects) then it went alphabetical so everyone turned out mix up house-wise.

"The ceremony is going to start now. I want everyone on their best behavior, Mr. Black," barked Professor McGonagall.

"What did I do?" said Sirius with an accused look.

"Nothing… yet."

James sent Sirius, who was not far behind him, a grin. Sirius smiled back with an exuberance that made April Barnes (who casually turned around to say something to her friends) stare with her mouth wide open. Sirius slowly turned her around which instantly made her go into recovery-mode now that Sirius was out of her eye sight. James laughed and looked at his lovely girlfriend standing next to him. She looked nervous. He kissed her on her forehead.

Professor McGonagall pointed her wand at the door. It slowly started to open. Opening them to the beginning of their new life…

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Please review and enjoy!

Keep an eye out for new chapters, but not a big eye as I'm reading lots of Draco fanfiction. (If you have any suggestions, let me know! I looovvve Dromione).

And also sorry if there is any grammatical errors. :O


	4. Here's To The Future

**AN; **Sorry for the big delay with this one. I had no motivation to write it and I spent most of the time watching StarKidPotter's "A Very Potter Musical." I also did go on vacation.

I would like to say that this chapter would not be here yet if it was not for Living in a fantasy. She made me write it so :D.

Another thanks to sunmoonwriter89 because without her this chapter would look like shnits.

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The doors opened slowly, allowing light from the Great Hall to pour into the hallway they stood in. Remus inhaled deeply, hoping to calm his nerves as James and Lily lead the group onto the ceremony. He was right after them but he found his feet could not move. As if writing the speech was hard enough, now he had to give it in front of the whole school! Alexander Walters, the Ravenclaw speaker, had to give Remus a push in order for him to move. Embarrassed, Remus quickly caught up to "The Dream Couple," as they were now called, not without hearing Sirius' laughter in the background.

As Remus caught up to them, he looked around the Great Hall trying to find his parents. He found them seated near the Potters with the Pettigrews not far behind. No sign of the Black family anywhere. Inwardly, Remus wondered how Sirius felt about his parents not attending. Of course he was fine with it, but maybe there was a part of him that did want to be connected with his family. He glanced back at Sirius. He was waving and smiling broadly at the Potters. His family was there. They may not be related by blood but the Potters were the greatest thing that ever happened to Sirius. Remus gazed back at his parents. His father smiling proudly that his werewolf son made it through with his mother giving him a nod of encouragement.

They all went to their respective place (which amazingly went Lily, James, Remus, Sirius… Peter ended up a few chairs away) and waited for Dumbledore to go to the podium. Once he arrived, they were allowed to sit down. Dumbledore stood before the class and looked at them proudly. It was his fifth year being Headmaster and everyone, save for the Slytherins, thought he was a phenomenal professor.

"Students, family, friends; Welcome!," he started. "I look upon these bright young faces feeling proud to say that they are my students. These students have endured the hardship of learning advanced magic and have prevailed and accomplished it with great success. As all of the students are brilliant in their own way, the Head of House has chosen one student from their House to prepare a speech. Professor McGonagall…"

Remus' jitters increased as Professor McGonagall took her spot. His legs started bouncing involuntary. James and Sirius seemed to have noticed as they both started to stifle laughter.

"You alright there, Moony?" whispered James.

"Shut up," was the reply he received which only caused the boys to laugh more.

Professor McGonagall reached the podium and looked directly at them causing their laughter to decrease. She proceeded to give her mini-speech;

"Good evening, everyone. I am Professor McGonagall and I have the fortune to be the Head of the Gryffindor House. The student I have chosen for today is a most exceptional student. During the years I've had the pleasure of teaching him, he has proven to be studious, hard-working, kind and a great friend. He is always willing to help others and never lets them give up. He also shows true Gryffindor Spirit with constant bravery. This is why I've Remus Lupin. I know in the future he will be as exceptional out of school as he was in school."

Professor McGonagall gave Remus a nod as a signal to proceed up to the podium. Remus slowly stood up.

"Good luck, mate," whispered Sirius.

"Knock them dead," added James.

Remus took a deep breath and proceeded up to the spot light. His thoughts went as follows;

"Deep breath, take a deep breath. You can do this. Did you hear all the good things McGonagall said about you? Yes, I did… it only made me feel more pressure. If she had said I was terrible, I could have screwed up and everyone would have been fine with it. You know what? I can do this. I'm a Gryffindor! Gryffindors are not afraid of anything. I'm going to blow them all away and will wanted worldwide to be giving speeches everywhere. Think Gryffindor. I can do this. Think…"

He reached the podium and noted the large amount of people looking back at him with curious, bored or enthusiastic faces. His mind racing with plenty of more nervous thoughts, but the 'you're a Gryffindor' thing really seemed to work so he went with that. He looked around the room once more and with a deep breath began his speech.

"It is incredible," he began "to find ourselves here in this room for our graduation. It feels like only yesterday that we first came here to this mysterious place. When we first arrived at Hogwarts, we usually spent most of the class time actually looking for the class. It was so dark and big filled with secrets. There were some places we were afraid to walk down the hallway and even with a map finding the easiest of classrooms seemed worse than homework! Now, we can know these walls better then even our own home because it is our home. We grew up here. We learned here. We played here. We listened to Lily reject James here. We laughed, made friends, matured, fell in love here. For some of us, our happiest memories take place right with-in this castle. But now, we are leaving it. We are moving on to the next stages of our lives; the most important stage of our lives. The part where we prove ourselves as witches and wizards to our friends, family and teachers. It will take time to get used to. It will be strange not constantly seeing our friends, getting yelled at by teachers, doing homework, and everything else that makes this school home, but it is time to move on. We are the future. It is our turn to be the responsible ones and make the right choices. There are certainly going to be a lot of things we miss… but there are also going to me lots of things we will not miss. We are not going to miss detention or homework. We are not going to miss Sirius constantly telling everyone how good looking he is or Alexander telling everyone how smart he is. We won't miss cowering before Professor McGonagall either. I'll end saying; here's to the future; it was good here, but it will be great beyond."

Remus smiled as he returned to his seat. It went well! He did not fumble over any words or even have stage fright. They laughed at all the right places, as well. James and Sirius pat him on the back as he took his seat.

"Excellent work, mate," said Sirius once he arrived and sat down.

"That was bloody brilliant!" added James.

"Thanks, guys," replied Remus. He was so happy to have that over with.

The next person to give their speech was Alexander Walters. He was the Ravenclaw representative who Remus had made fun of before. Luckily, Alexander had a good sense of humor and was not offended by it. He knew he was like that. Although his sense of humor was good, his speech was not. It was all about hard work and diligence with no sentimental value to it and had to have been about twelve pages long. Remus had to wake up Sirius on a number of occasions.

But then again, Alexander's was not half as horrible as Christine Franks, the Hufflepuff. It made absolute no sense with not real meaning to it. No one really knew what to think of it.

Finally, Snape went up to give his speech. Remus noticed James and Sirius perk up in interest. Sirius had a broad grin on while James showed a hint of a smirk (as he was sitting next to Lily). "What did you guys do?" whispered Remus.

"Nothing," said James the same moment Sirius said "Wait and see."

Snivellus walked up to the stand with a greenish face. He looked like he was about to throw up. He shakily put his speech in front of him and quickly glanced through it. During this, he must have noticed that something was not right because his expression changed from anxious to anger. He shot a glare at James and Sirius because they, of course, were the culprits behind it. James did well at keeping a straight face while Sirius had to stare at a candle to keep from laughing. Snape started his speech without glancing at it again.

The fact that Snape had memorized his speech did not make Sirius very happy. Once Snape missed the first change they made to the speech, Remus watched as Sirius slumped down in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. He looked very much like a four year old who did not get the candy he had wanted. Luckily for him, Snape did fumble over many words. Enough to bring Sirius back into happy mode. Once his speech was over and the applause (mostly from the Slytherins) died down, Professor Dumbledore stood up and went back to the podium.

"Thank you," he said "to Mr. Remus Lupin, Mr. Alexander Walters, Ms. Christine Franks and Mr. Severus Snape for your wonderful speeches."

"You totally won, though," whispered Sirius to Remus.

"Yeah," added James "if that was a quidditch match you would have beaten all of them by 15,593 points."

Remus told them to be quiet, but a smile remained on his face.

"Now," continued Professor Dumbledore "I would like to ask the Head Boy, Mr. James Potter and the Head Girl, Ms. Lily Evans, to start the 'Lighting of the Flame.'"

James and Lily walked and stood next to the podium. Professor Dumbledore nodded to them telling them they may commence.

As tradition went, the Head Boy and Head Girl started the actual graduating ceremony, The Lighting of the Flame which symbolized the growth of their education and grew throughout the years. They were supposed to stand in front of everyone and raise their wands. As they did this, the Head Girl recited the incantation of the flame in English at the same time as the Head Boy did in Latin.

"We light this flame," she began "in honor of our past, present and future. To show our education as it grew from when we first started to when our education truly ends."

"Nos lux lucis is flamma in veneratio nostri preteritus , tendo quod posterus. Exhibeo nostrum erudio ut is grew ex ut nos primoris coepi ut ut nostrum erudio verum ends," recited James at the same time.

While Lily and James said this, a white light flew out from each of their wands. The two flames met in the middle forming the outer casing of the Hogwarts Shield with the school motto beneath it.

Professor McGonagall replaced Professor Dumbledore and asked for all of the Gryffindors to rise and join the Head Boy and Head Girl. Remus led the group (the other following in alphabetical order behind him) to the step that was in front of where Lily and James were standing.

Once they were all lined up, Professor McGonagall started calling the students' names.

"Remus Lupin," was the first that she called.

With a roar of cheers, Remus raised his wand just as James and Lily had. Also, very similar to theirs, a light came from the tip of the wand and hovered over Remus in the air.

"Sirius Black."

Sirius's cheers were deafening which sounded more like girls squealing than normal cheers. He copied Remus and created his own light above his head. It went on like that with the next six. Once Professor McGonagall finished calling all of the Gryffindor names, the lights above them combined to form the Gryffindor crest and took it place within the shield. This continued with the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and finally ending with the Slughorn and the Slytherins.

Once the shield was complete with all of the crests placed in their intended space, the shield glowed then vanished. This was followed by all of the students throwing their wizard hats to be thrown in the air and extremely loud cheers… as it meant that after seven years, they finally graduated.

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R&R prank in next chapter!


	5. The Road Of Life

**AN: Ok so here it is! The end of the story!!!! I finally did it. **

**There a lot happening in this chapter and I hope you like it. :D**

**Quick thanks to all the people who helped me with this, namely April, Kira and Katie (for inspiring the Remus' parts). **

**Enjoy!**

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After the graduation, it was complete pandemonium. Everyone was everywhere hugging and reuniting with their parents. It was within this chaos that Sirius and James were able to slip away to pull their prank, but it would not take effect until the next day. Once they did what they needed to do, they casually went back into the Great Hall to meet with James's parents. Luckily, Remus and his parents were talking to them. It was a perfect distraction.

"Oh, James! I'm so proud of you," stammered his mother pulling him into an almost violent hug.

"Thanks, mom," greeted James. "Um… You can let go of me now."

James broke free from his mother's iron grip trying to not let anyone see how much her grip hurt. He was a quidditch player and hung around with werewolves for Godric's sake! If anyone knew the only person who could really cause James any physical damage was his mother, he would never live it down. Of course, his moment of pain would be the time his father decides to pat him on the back saying "Good work, son." It was a nice gesture, but combined with the brute force that is his mother, he was not feeling his best.

"What about me, mom?" asked Sirius with a pouty face. Sirius had adopted them as much as they adopted him. These past years, even when he was still living at Grimmuald Place, they considered him another son. James' twin brother if you will.

"Mom, huh?" said a voice. "I don't know … she looks too nice. Not at all like your real mother."

Sirius quickly turned to look at the speaker. She was tall and had long dark black hair that some curls in it. Her fair skins was surrounded by the darkness everything else. The only thing that was keeping Sirius from cursing at her was her huge pregnant belly_. _It could have been Bellatrix, but it was not. It was Andromeda.

"D-dromy!" stammered Sirius. "What are you doing here?!"

"I came to see my favorite cousin graduate from school. Why? Do you want me to leave?"

"No," Sirius yelled. It was clear that Andromeda being there meant a lot to Sirius. His face showed off a radiance that was not normally there. Yes, the Potter's was his new lovely family, but he was happy to see that someone from his blood family did care about it. Sirius bounced with excitement. "I meant; why are you here when you're going to be having" he pointed at her stomach "that soon? I would give you a hug… but I don't know if…"

"Don't know if what?" asked Andromeda with a stern face.

"If… I could, you know… get my arms around you. You're stomach would be in the way," said Sirius awkwardly.

"Are you calling me fat?" she questioned. Her expression was somewhat scary.

"No… well yes in a way, but it is a good fat! It's the I'm-going-to-have-a-baby fat! … It's perfectly… fine. "

Andromeda stared him down with a very evil look. Sirius was starting to sweat under the pressure she was putting on him. Finally, she burst out into fits of laughter and grabbed Sirius into a hug.

"I love messing with you," she told him.

The hug was awkward with the bump in the middle. Sirius broke it, jumping away with a yelp.

"What was that?" he asked wide-eyed.

"It was the baby," Andromeda laughed. "It kicked."

"What are you going to have?" asked James.

"The pasta I think. What were the options again?" Andromeda asked. "I'm so hungry."

"Um, I meant the gender of the baby," commented James.

"Oh!" she exclaimed a little embarrassed. "The one thing about having a baby is you're always hungry."

"I completely understand," said Mrs. Potter. "I nearly killed my husband asking for so much different food. He was so exhausted trying to keep up with my hunger habits."

"I think Teddy could relate," said Andromeda "He is extremely relieved when he goes to work. Let's him get away for a while. Anyways, I'm going to have a girl."

"That's wonderful!" commented Mrs. Potter.

"I hope she looks like Teddy," mentioned Andromeda lovingly stroking her belly.

"Either way, I'm sure she'll be very pretty," said Remus.

Andromeda smiled, but Sirius retorted with "Are you coming on to my cousin's baby?"

Remus gave him a 'you-are-so-stupid' look then walked away going to talk to the Pettigrew's.

Mrs. Potter, James and Sirius crowded around Andromeda, each one wanted to feel the baby kick. James was about to get his turn when he heard a voice that he loved so much.

"James," said Lily shyly patting him on the arm. It was so unlike her and so adorable. "You already meet my parents… Can I meet yours? My parents would like to meet them as well."

James smiled as Mr. and Mrs. Evens walked over to where they were standing. He laughed to himself remembering the first time he meet them on Platform Nine and Three Quarters two years ago. He had been very obnoxious and told them that one day he was going to marry their daughter. He could not remember a time where she was more furious at him then that moment. What made Lily even angrier was her mother insisting upon seeing him every time she could after that saying she wanted to see her future son-in-law. As if James need another reason to be anymore smug!

"Of course you ca-"James began, only to be cut off.

"Why you must be Ms. Lily Evens!" greeted Mrs. Potter. "I've heard so much about you in these last seven years! James talks about you non-stop."

Mrs. Potter sent her son a grin. Most boys at the treacherous age of seventeen would be mortified if their mothers sold them out like that. James was not like them. He smiled and bore it with pride. When has he ever hid his long term affection for Lily?

"That doesn't surprise me, at all," Lily laughed.

"Who is this pretty lady?" asked Mr. Potter coming into the conversation.

"Dad," James introduced. "This is Lily Evens, my girlfriend." No one, in the history of Hogwarts, was ever as ecstatic as James when he called someone "my girlfriend." His chest swelled up with pride as he put his arm around Lily.

"The Lily Evens?" said Mr. Potter aghast, even though he knew very well who that was. James had described her over and over again. It would take a fool to not know that she was Lily. "You're almost a celebrity in our home."

"I hope he didn't exaggerate me. James can really go overboard when it comes to me," she said.

"James can go a little overboard with everything," added Sirius.

Mr. and Mrs. Evens introduced themselves to what James knew would end up being their in-laws. The sets of parents talked about numerous things involving the wizarding world as they made their way to the hall where supper was being held. They talked of the future for their kids and different magical things. The Potters were instantly attached to Lily and her parents; chatting like they were old friends.

The dinner went by with more words from the Headmaster and Heads of House. The meals themselves were very deliciously made. The Evens could not believe they were eating food actually made by real elves. Mr. and Ms. Evens also were greatly impressed with Remus. They thought he was a very cleaver boy, indeed.

Lily was very conscious of James and Sirius constantly looking over at the Slytherins. They had a very mischievous smile on their face.

The students still had to stay at Hogwarts for one last night so as the families left; they slowly went back to their dormitory. Memories filled through them as they walked through each hallway. It was a bittersweet moment. When the Gryffindors entered their dormitory for the last time, they were surprised by the first through sixth years throwing a party for them. The room was decorated with red and gold. They made a sign for each of the graduates that they had all wrote messages on for them to remember them by. They could have partied all night but at one in the morning Professor McGonagall came into the room and broke it apart.

"Don't worry," Sirius told James. "The party can continue."

Sirius showed him a paper bag hiding the content inside. James knew all too well what that was. They climbed up the steps reaching to the dorm in which they had plenty of fond memories in. James looked around the room; his head spinning. The memories! He had plenty of them. He could feel the emotions welling up inside of him. He was thankful for Sirius breaking this train of thoughts when he called for a toast.

"Didn't we toast enough today?" asked Remus falling into his pillow. "I'm so exhausted."

"Oh yes," commented Sirius. "It must be so tiring getting complimented by peer, teachers and parents all day. I can see how constantly being praised for this and that must have worn you out."

"Jealous, Sirius?" challenged Remus.

"No," he sighed. "I'm complimented so much that yours today didn't even matter. Anyways … firewhisky anyone?"

"Sirius!" exclaimed Remus. "You can't have that here!"

"What does it matter?" questioned Sirius. "What are they going to do; expel me?"

This silenced Remus and it seemed that he could not come up with a good reason to stop him either. James quickly grabbed a glass while Peter seemed to be almost frightened of it. He had never had any like the others. When Sirius offered Remus his glass, Remus sighed and reluctantly took it. Sirius took it upon himself to start the toasting.

"I would like to toast to us," exclaimed Sirius.

"No surprise there," murmured Remus to James. James sniggered.

"For us being without a doubt, the coolest people to have ever come here," continued Sirius. "I mean… look at us! We are what everyone wanted to be. No one else in our year can transform into an animal (or be a werewolf for that matter). No one else caused as much mischief as us. No one else had as many friends as us. Not only were we influential in the social aspect, but in the academic sense as well. Yes, some of us _may _have not done their homework as much as others, but we are pretty freakin' intelligent. So, I say; to us!"

"I'll drink to that!" exclaimed James.

"Well said," added Remus.

"Very inspiring," piped in Peter.

They all took a drink from their glass. Peter seemed to have a hard time keeping it down; it was a bit too strong for him. He coughed most of it up.

"Now," continued Sirius "I would like to toast to Moony! A man a good as friend as he is smart. Not only would we have not passed without you, but we also would have missed out on meeting one of the most sensible, hard-working werewolves ever to come into existence. As Professor McGonagall said, he shows all true Gryffindor spirit. He's brave, kind and adventurous. He has overcome more difficulties than any other person in this entire school combined. Not to mention that he had the best speech today! To Moony!"

"To Moony!" chanted James and Peter (who had another unsuccessful drink of firewhiskey).

"That was really… thanks, guys," said Remus sentimentally. He took as small, but thoughtful drink from his glass. Professor McGonagall saying it was one thing, but it meant so much more coming from a friend.

"My turn to do one!" exclaimed James. "I would like to toast to the most loyal, fun and greatest friend ever, Mr. Padfoot. Imagine, for a second, what our adventure here would have been without him. I'll sum it up in one word; boring. Sirius, you're greater than any friend I could have ever imagined and you always have my back. You're more of a family member to me. The brother I never had. So, I would like to say thank you for being who you are and never change. To Padfoot!"

"To Padfoot!"

"That was beautiful," fake sobbed Sirius. He grabbed a hold of James robs and pretended to cry into them. They all drank to Sirius and hoping he will never change.

"James turn," said Sirius. "I would like to toast my best friend, Prongie. James, you showed us all the meaning of bravery and dedication. Not only are you dedicated to your sport and friends, but also your women. You never gave up on a girl who always hated you and shot you down. Now look at you! I'm sure you two are getting ready for marriage soon! I also learned a lot of things from you. There is two lessons I learned that effected me the most. One is that not all pureblood families are harsh, cruel and prejudice. There are purebloods out there that kind and are not into the blood-mania that mine was. The second thing I learned is that you can take a prank too far, so I thank you for saving not only my skin, but Remus' and Snape's as well. Think about the consequences. We are all very grateful that you are with us. James, may the rest of your life be filled with light and laughter. To Prongs!"

"To Prongs," exclaimed Remus loudly. Clearly the firewhisky was taking its effect. He took a healthy swig from his glass.

"To Prongs," murmured Peter. He took a small drink from his glass looking extremely ill. James seemed to have noticed this.

"Firewhisky not working well with you, Peter?" asked James.

"N-no," stammered Peter. He seemed to be getting greener by the second. It looked like he was going to explode at any second. James changed the firewhisky to water for him. He took a long drink of that. "Thanks. That was making me sick. Sorry."

"So long as you don't puke," said Sirius.

"To Wormtail!" started James. "A boy that started out shy and quiet. I remember when we first meet him, no offence, but I thought he was spineless. Once we kick started his courage, he was unstoppable. He took on several Slytherins and not even the Whopping Willow could stop him. You made our group complete! To Wormtail!"

The other fallowed his example and drank to Peter. Peter's expression was unreadable as he looked extraordinarily green. It was a pitiful mix of sickness and happiness. It was lucky that he was sitting on his bed as he fainted the moment after.

"Ah-oh," said Sirius. "Wormtail down."

"I suppose we should go to bed as well," commented Remus sadly. "Although I'd rather stay up."

"Me too," added James. "We still need one more toast."

"James," sighed Sirius. "I know you want to toast to Lily, but this is _our _last night here and she was never a member of _our_ dorm no matter how much you wanted her to be."

"Well, a toast to Lily would be nice, but it was not what I was going to toast to," said James. "I was going to toast to friendship."

"Oh," grumbled Sirius. "Yeah, I'll toast to that."

"I would toast to Lily, too. She's been a good friend throughout the years… well, at least to me," added Remus.

"Ok, fine," boomed Sirius. "We will toast to Lily and friendship!"

And they did. They had every intention to go to sleep them, but something kept them up. They did not want to leave the school so they spent most of the night reminiscing about the past. When they woke up, Sirius found his back in incredible pain with James's head lying on his shoulder. They were sitting up against the bed with pictures they were looking at the night before scattered around them. Remus was sleeping on the bed that they were leaning on. He looked at the clock which showed they had twenty five minutes to get to the train. Sirius shook James awake.

"It wasn't me!" slurred James waking to a start.

"I know it wasn't, mate, but that's not important right now!" exclaimed Sirius. "We got to get going or will miss the prank and it will have been for nothing."

"Huh?" said James brightly.

"The train!"

"Oh!" said James getting more awake. He looked at the clock. "Dang! We have to get moving! We have to wake them up."

James quickly scrambled over to Remus while Sirius walked over to Peter's bed. They counted to three with their fingers and at the same moment screamed fire in their ears. Peter awoke instantly looking around the room completely alert. Remus, however, was not amused. He simply told them to put it out.

"Moony, we have to get going or we'll miss the train," James told him. That woke him up.

The four boys managed to get dressed and ready in time. They hurried down to the station and managed to get on a cart to take them to the train. There were several carts that were not used yet. Remus pondered the reason for this while James and Sirius had smiles on their faces. Remus noticed this.

"What did you do?" asked Remus.

"Let's just say, we probably know where the others are right now," laughed Sirius.

"And we would not want to be them," added James. They both grimaced and laughed.

Remus obviously did not approve.

"Why would that be?" quizzed Remus.

"Ok, ok," gave in Sirius. "So, do you remember our, as in James and mine, first prank?"

"Changing Snape's hair color?"

"No," said James. "We poisoned his plate. He was sick for a week and the first day he could not get out of the bathroom."

Remus put his head in his hands in disbelief of his friends. He looked at their grins. It was so irresponsible of them to do that, but then again… it's not like they could be blamed for it. They can't expel them from a school they don't go to and how would they find out it was them.

"I have a question," Remus told them. "The timing of when they would get sick… did you plan it?"

"Yes, we did," answered Sirius.

"So, it could seem like it happed from a hangover?"

"It sure could have," said James.

"Hm," thought Remus aloud. He looked at the pair. "That was pretty clever."

"Why thank yo-"started Sirius.

"Guys, this is the last glimpse we are going to get of the castle," interrupted Peter.

They all turned to look at the castle. They sure were going to miss Hogwarts; their home. They watched it until they couldn't see it. The last part of it they saw was Gryffindor Tower. It was sad and happy moment. It was an exciting, yet never racking feeling. It was, to say the least, emotional. In the blink of an eye, they could not see it anymore. It was gone. Their education at Hogwarts was over. They four of them were solemn until they reached the platform.

They found Lily saving them seats in a compartment for them. She looked angry that they were so late and missed breakfast. It turns out that Dumbledore wanted to talk to them about their missions. He was giving them a week off before they started working in the Order of the Phoenix. She gave them each a letter from him with a briefing of what was happening.

"So," said Sirius. "It's really happening. It's finally our turn to fight back without the worry of a detention."

"We are putting our lives out in danger and all you can think of is 'at least I won't get a detention,'" said Remus shaking his head.

"It's a good incentive," commented James.

It was eleven o'clock and the train was supposed to leave but it seemed the seventh year Slytherins still did not show up. The Marauders were extremely thrilled that it took an extra half an hour just to get everything sorted out. All the other students were angry at the Slytherins not knowing where their angry should have belonged too. Once they finally did arrive, everyone yelled and insulted them. The insults were music in James and Sirius' ears. Nothing sounded more pleasant.

The train started moving causing all of the students to start cheering. The ride home was fun. They talked about the past years and of the future. They left so much behind, but there was so much more for them in the future. They were going to be member of the Order of the Phoenix and were very proud of it, too. Peter seemed to be the only one who was a bit shaky about it. He was not prepared for battle like the rest of them.

When they arrived to the station, they all said their good-bye. It was not as sad as it would be if they weren't going to constantly be seeing each other. Nothing could tear apart The Marauders. The hardest one for James was saying good-bye to was Lily. Yes, it would only be a week for her as well, but he wasn't sure he would be able to make it. Sirius pulled him away and put a comforting arm around him. They started walking away… preparing for the next road. The road of life.

~Fins~

**XXXxxxxXXXXX**

**Please R&R!**

**Hope you like it!**


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